Tuyere with divided passageway



Oct 31. 1967 J. v. LUcARl-:LL 3,350,084

TUYERE WITH DIVIDED PASSAGEWAY Filed Jan. 26, 1965 INVENTOR. JAMES V.LUCARELL ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,350 084 TUYERE WITH D'IvrbEDPAssAGEwAY .lames V. Lucarell, Meadville, Pa., assignor to AbexCorporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 26, 1965, Ser. No.428,093 3 Claims. (Cl. 26d-41)v This invention relates to blastfurnaces, and more particularly to the method of and structure forcontrolling the introduction of gaseous blasts therein.

Typically, a blast furnace has .a generally cylindric-al interiorencompassed within a furnace wall and a plurality of circumferentiallylspaced tuyeres disposed in the furnace wall through which gaseous blastsare introduced into the center of the furnace. In most blast furnaces,the tuyeres direct the gaseous blasts directly along radial lines towardthe axis at the center of the furnace. In some blast furnaces, asdisclosed in United States Patent No. 2,124,- 437, the flow of gaseousblasts is directed eccentrically of the axis of the furnace to produce aswirling effect to the blast. In still other blast furnaceinstallations, as disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,781,190, thegaseous blasts are directed downwardly at an angle from the generallyhorizontal planes of tuyere locations in the furnace wall against thepool of molten metal therein. The` more conventional radial blasts havethe advantage of achieving greater penetration of the burden; howeverdirecting the air eccentrically or downwardly has advantages as setforth in more detail in the above cited patents. A primary object of thepresent invention is to control the blast in ablast furnace by directingone portion thereof at a radial path and directing another portion at an.angle to the radially directed blast.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide for a novel flowof air into a blast furnace by dividing a blast of air in the tuyereinto two portions while directing one portion along radial line towardthe center of the furnace and the other portion at a predetermined angleto the radially directed blast of air.

Another object of the invention is a new and improved tuyere having thecapability of dividing a blast of gaseous medium such, as air intoA atleast two portions, and directing a first portion thereof along a radialdirection toward the center of the blast furnace and directing a secondportion of the gaseous blast at a predetermined angle to the radiallydirected blast.

Another object of the invention is a. tuyere having the foregoingcapabilities and which can be positioned in the furnace wall soas todirect the second portion ofnthe blast either downwardly oreccentrically of the radial blast.

A further object of the invention is the provision of aV batile withinthe bore of a tuyere to divide the blast of air or other gaseous bodymoving through the tuyere into two portions and to direct one portion ofthe` blast of air atan angle relative to the other portion of air.

A general object of the invention is a tuyere of the foregoing typewhich is simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other and further objects of the invention will bev apparent from thefollowing description and` claims and are illustrated: in theaccompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show preferredembodiments of the invention and the principles thereof andwhat ist nowconsidered to be the best mode contemplated; for applyingy theserprinciples. OtherV embodiments of the invention embodying the samel orequivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made asdesired by those skilledin the artY without departing from the present`invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a typical furnace wall having atuyere constructed in accordance with the invention;`

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing one orientation of a plurality oftuyeres and the direction of the air blast exiting each of the tuyeresunder the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a tuyere constructed in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the nose portion of the tuyere of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 isl a rear view of the rear plate of the tuyere of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. l, there isillustrated a typical installation within a blast furnace wall 10 of atuyere 12 constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of theinvention. The tuyere 12 is held in the furnace wall 10 by a tuyerecooler or holder 14 which has an annular cooling space 15 for receivinga cooling medium such as water. Thel tuyere cooler has a central conicalopening 16, which at the narrowing forward end thereof, has awedging litat 17 to hold the tuyere 12 in place. A blow pipe 18 extends into andthrough the center of opening 16 of the tuyere cooler 14 and has aforward end 19 fitted into recess area 20 complementary in shape to theend 19 of the blowpipe 18. Preheated gaseous blasts, usually air blasts,flow through the interior bore 22 of the blowpipe 18 into the centralopening or bore 24 at the rear of the tuyere 12.

Among the important aspects of the present invention are the dividing ofthe air blast within each tuyere 12 by a divider and baffle means 25 andthe controlling of the directions ofthe divided streams of blast withinthe interior of the furnace. The divider and baille means 25 forms twoseparate and distinct passageways 24A and 24B for directing the gaseousblast to exit from the tuyere 12 along diverging paths as will beexplainedv hereinafter in detail.

FIG. 2 illustratesv diagrammatically a conventional blastfurnaceinstallation having a plurality of circumferentially spacedtuyeres usually numbering eight to sixteen tuyeres. The tuyeres 12extend into the central and cylindrical area, FIG. 2 of the blastfurnace wherein the burden is being reduced. The more conventional typeof t-uyere arrangement has the bores of the tuyeres arranged in the samehorizontal plane with each of the tuyeres oriented to direct the air ofgaseous blast exiting therefrom toward the center of the furnace,defined by a generally vertical axis such as 216, FIG. 2. The directionof the blast from the tuyeres along radialw lines toward this centralaxis 2,6 affords good penetration of the burden by the gas blasts fromthe tuyeres. However, advantages of air ow have been advanced for atuyere arrangement such as that illustrated in United States Patent No.2,124,437, wherein the nose of the tuyere is curved at an angle to theradial direction so that the air blasts exiting therefrom are directedeccentricallyof the furnace so as to create a swirling-draft. Theswirling draft decreases the interference of the blasts with each otheras they intersect adjacent the axis 2.6. The tuyere of United StatesPatent No. 2,781,190, has the blasts directed downwardly rather thanstraight outwardly along a horizontal planey toward the central axis ofthe furnace.

Of primary importance to the present invention is the method ofcontrolling the air blasts in a 4blast furnace so 3 as to direct aportion of each of the air blasts from each of the tuyeres radiallytoward the center of thefurnace and to direct another portion of each ofthe blasts exiting from a tuyere at an angle to the radially directedblasts so as to achieve an eccentrically directed blast, oralternatively, downward blast.

More specifically, an arrangement of air blasts according to the presentinvention has radially directed portions of the blasts, indicated 'byarrows A, to afford good penetration of the burden while simultaneouslyaffording either eccentric blasts or downwardly directed blasts. In FIG.2, the tuyeres 12 are disposed in the furnace wall with the passageways24A and 24B both in the same horizontal plane. Thus, portions of theblasts exiting the passageways 24B are directed eccentrically asindicated by the directional arrows B, in FIG. 2, to create a swirlingdraft while that other portions of the blasts are directed radially asindicated by the arrows A to afford direct penetration tvpe of blastfrom each of the tuyeres.

With the tuyeres 12 disposed in their holders 14 as shown in FiG. 1, afirst portion of a blast is directed toward the axis 26 of the furnacewhile another portion of the blast is exiting at an angle to the radialblast A and is directed downwardly as shown by the directional arrows C,FIGS. 1 and 3. Thus, each of the tuyeres 12 will have a portion of ablast directed in the same horizontal and radial direction as indicatedby the directional arrows A; and each of the tuyeres 12 will have aportion of the blast directed downwardly. Preferably, all of the tuyeres12 will have the same orientation within the furnace. Thus, if thetuyeres 12 are oriented to effect an eccentric blast, then the tuyeresare aligned in the same direction of exhaust; for example, to afford acounterclockwise swirling draft, as illustrated in FIG. 2.Alternatively, rotating the tuyeres 180 from the position of FIG. 2would afford a clockwise swirling draft from the passageways 24B.

Similarly, when one of the tuyeres 12 is disposed in the mannerillustrated in FIG. 1, it is preferred that all the remaining tuyeres 12be similarly oriented with their respective blasts C pointed downwardly.It is to be understood from the foregoing that rotation of the tuyere 12through 90 from the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 disposes a tuyere 12to afford the eccentric directional blast B rather than the downwardlydirected blast C. Thus, the same construction of tuyere 12 can beemployed to afford either an eccentric or downwardly directed blast incombination with a radial blast.

Preferably, the tuyere 12 is a one piece casting of a copper alloy orother suitable material having an integrally formed outercircumferential wall 30, an inner circumferential wall 31, an inner ornose wall 32, a rear or butt wall 33 and a divider and baffle wall 25.In the space between the inner and outer circumferential walls 30, thereare a series of cooling passages 36 for receiving cooling water from aninlet pipe 37 threaded into a tapped opening 38 in the rear wall 33 ofthe tuyere. In a conventional manner, one or more baffles (not shown)extend between outer wall 30 and inner wall 31 to form the passages 36for directing forward and reverse longitudinal ow of the water whichexits from the tuyere through a tapped opening 39 and an outlet pipe 40.Typically, the tuyere 12 has one or more tappened openings 42 in therear plate 33 to permit cleaning of the interior passages 36. Thesetapped openings 42 are closed by tightly fitting plugs therebypreventing the loss of any water from a tuyere 12.

The divider and bafile wall means 25 is preferably formed with arearward or divider portion 44 which is of relatively narrowcross-section and divides the bore into equal areas so as to afford theequal passageways 24A and 24B on opposite sides of the divider portion44. This divider portion 44 is joined at a forward portion to a baffleportion 45 which is of increasing cross-sectional thickness in the`direction toward the nose wall 32. The baffle portion 45 has a 15inclination to the center line of the tuyere 12 so that the portion ofthe gaseous blast moving through the passageway 24B exits atan angle of15 rela-` tive to the portion of the gaseous blast exiting thepassageway 24A. The angle of inclination of the passageway 24B, however,is subject to change with different designs and the 15 angle ofinclination is exemplary. It is to be noted that the passage 24B isunrestricted in size because the inner wall 31 is tapered at 50 `along a15 angle so as to maintain the cross-sectional area of the passageway24B equal to the cross-sectional area of the passageway in order not torestrict the flow of the gaseous blast therefrom.

While the bafile and divider means 25 may take different forms andshapes, it is preferred that the end of the baffle 52 at the nose wall32 be of substantial thickness so as to better withstand the highthermal temperature and abuse. Preferably, the nose wall 32 is also ofincreasing thickness in a downward direction when the tuyere 12 isoriented with the passageway 24B to direct a gaseous blast downwardly.The wall 32 is of first thickness between the outer surface 53 and innersurface 54 at the top of the tuyere and is of a greater thicknessbetween the surfaces 55 and 56 at the lower portion of the tuyere, whenoriented in the position of FIG. 3. Also, it is preferred practice togenerally round the interconnection of the divider and bafiie plate 25as shown by the rounded corners 58, FIG. 4, and rounded corners 59, FIG.5.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention isdirected to a novel manner of controlling the air blasts for a blastfurnace; and to a novel tuyere having -a baffle or divider for dividingan air blast into two portions and for directing one portion of an airblast at an angle to another portion of the air blast. Also with thenovel tuyere of the invention, it is possible to employ the same tuyereto afford either an eccentric or downward blast in combination with aradial blast.

It is understood that the tuyere may be divided solely by bafiies suchlas the baffle 45 without employing a divider 44 and that the dividerand bafile may be of different lengths and shapes yand still be withinthe purview of the present invention. Also, the baffles and dividershown to be integrally cast with the tuyere may be made separately andsecured within a bore of the tuyere by welding or mechanical typefasteners.

Hence, while I have illustrated and described preferred embodiments ofmy invention, it is to be understood that these are capable of variationand modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to theprecise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changesand alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a tuyere or like furnace part having an outer wall, an inner wall,a nose wall joining said outer and inner at the end of the tuyere to beinserted farthest into the furnace, a butt wall joining said outer andinner wall at the other end of the tuyere, said inner wall defining abore for the flow of gases therethrough from the butt and to the noseend of the tuyere, and baffle means in said passageway for directing afirst portion of said gas to exit from said bore at an angle to a secondportion of said blast exiting from said bore, said baffle meansextending rearwardly from said nose wall towards said butt wall and isof tapered decreasing thickness; said inner wall being tapered oppositesaid baffle means to maintain equal cross-sectional areas opposite oneanother between said bafiie means and said inner wall.

2. In a one-piece, integrally cast tuyere or like furnace part having anouter integrally cast wall, an inner integrally cast wall, an integrallycast nose Wall joining said outer and inner wall at the end of thetuyere to be inserted furthermost into the furnace, an integrally castbutt wall joining said outer and inner wall at the other 'end of thetuyere, said inner wall defining a bore for the ow of gases therethroughfrom thebutt end to the nose end of the tuyere, and an integrally castbaille means located substantially in its entirety within said bore fordividing said bore and gas introduced therein into first and secondstreams owing through said bore, said baille means including an integralweb portion extending across said bore to divide said bore into twoseparate passages, and an inclined portion for directing the gas at anangle to said integral web portion.

3. The tuyere of claim 2 wherein said inner Wall is inclined at the sameinclination as said inclined portion opposite said inclined portion toafford equal area passageways at the nose Wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 157,256 11/1874 Ward 239-553 X1,017,638 2/1912 McCoole 239-553 1,994,115 3/1935 Stoecker 266-412,781,190 2/1957 Weir 266-41 FOREIGN PATENTS 976,068 3/1951 France.

I. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner.

E. MAR, Examiner.

1. IN A TUYERE OR LIKE FURNACE PART HAVING AN OUTER WALL, AN INNER WALL,A NOSE WALL JOINING SAID OUTER AND INNER AT THE END OF THE TUYERE TO BEINSERTED FARTHEST INTO THE FURNACE, A BUTT WALL JOINING SAID OUTER ANDINNER WALL AT THE OTHER END OF THE TUYERE, SAID INNER WALL DEFINING ABORE FOR THE FLOW OF GASES THERETHROUGH FROM THE BUTT AND TO THE NOSEEND OF THE TUYERE, AND BAFFLE MEANS IN SAID PASSAGEWAY FOR DIRECTING AFIRST PORTION OF SAID GAS TO EXIT FROM SAID BORE AT AN ANGLE TO A SECONDPORTION OF SAID BLAST EXITING FROM SAID BORE, SAID BAFFLE MEANSEXTENDING REARWARDLY FROM SAID NOSE WALL TOWARDS SAID BUTT WALL AND ISOF TAPERED DECREASING THICKNESS; SAID INNER WALL BEING TAPERED OPPOSITESAID BAFFLE MEANS TO MAINTAIN EQUAL CROSS-SECTIONAL AREAS OPPOSITE ONEANOTHER BETWEEN SAID BAFFLE MEANS AND SAID INNER WALL.